Alta California—covering the land that belongs to the modern-day US states of California, Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, western Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming—gained independence from Spain in 1821 upon conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence. After the war, the region was included in short-lived First Empire but was not recognized as one of the newly independent United Mexican States.Mexico lost control of the territory as a result of the Mexican-American War(1846–1848).

Alta California was designed by Steve Mehallo. Made from roughed-up letter forms siphoned from old newspapers and type specimen books, Alta California is designed to be reminiscent of overlapping business signage on a typical turn-of-the-century main street. Inspired by other computer-generated ransom note fonts, designer Steve Mehallo gave this eclectic typeface a weathered alphabet, slightly distorted punctuation and a few old-time pointing hands. Named in honour of an equally eclectic, weathered and slightly distorted newspaper published in 19th century Northern California, the Alta California font is best used for display purposes – headlines, garage sale signs or logotypes.

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